1. Field of the Invention. This invention is directed to equipment which is especially useful in the medical or hospital applications, in general, and, more particularly, to an improved tubing and connector which is used with anesthesia, respiratory therapy or other similar hospital uses.
2. Prior Art. In the medical and hospital professions, there are many applications for tubing which is used in patient care as well as in other activities. For example, tubing is used in the anesthesia process between the patient and the appropriate material sources (e.g., pressurized tanks). Likewise, tubing is frequently used in catheter applications to drain body fluids from the patient to a suitable receptacle. In other applications, intravenous (IV) applications of fluids to the patient are provided. In the present-day environment, much of this tubing and its associated couplers and the like are made to be disposable in order to avoid infection, cross-contamination, reduce maintenance costs, and so forth. In addition, it is highly desirable to combine a "modular" type of tubing system so that the operating personnel can function more smoothly and easily. Moreover, in case of emergency, an easily and readily adaptable and useful tubing apparatus is highly desirable.
There are several types of tubing which are currently available as described hereinafter, which have significant problems or drawbacks. Consequently, it is highly desirable to obtain an improved apparatus for use in the medical and/or hospital applications, a few of which are noted above.